A private investor has snapped up a non-metro neighbourhood shopping centre in Queensland for $35.55 million. The Woolworths-anchored Fernvale Village, located an hour west of Brisbane, attracted 14 offers and sold at a fully-leased yield of 5.1%.
CBRE’s Michael Hedger and Joe Tynan and the Colliers team of James Wilson and Stewart Gilchrist sold the 2.93ha site on behalf of a private investor.
“The on-market Expressions of Interest campaign engaged over $450 million in value of offers from institutional and private capital, highlighting the depth of market for Queensland Neighbourhood Shopping Centres,” Gilchrist said.
“There was significant demand due to the asset’s standing as a rare core plus opportunity; an existing shopping centre anchored by a high-performing supermarket, with a turn-key development opportunity providing immediate capital value uplift,” Tynan added.
There were close to 170 enquiries received during the course of the campaign, with the Woolworths site supported by The Reject Shop and 13 specialty stores comprising 5,824m2 of total GLA.
The 1.78ha shopping centre portion of the site is accompanied by approximately 1.15ha of vacant land, with DA approval for an additional 3,285m2 of retail gross floor area.
“The purchaser’s interest was driven by the growth of the catchment area, which includes a proposal for an estimated 2,000-plus additional lots and significant infrastructure expenditure to service them,” Hedger said.
The only major full-line supermarket within an approximately 20km radius, Fernvale Village services an extensive and fast-growing region while also being positioned along the major thoroughfare Brisbane Valley Highway.
“There was $2.56 billion in value of Neighbourhood Shopping Centres transacted in 2021, the highest level ever recorded for the sector,” Wilson added. “The Neighbourhood Shopping Centre sub-sector recorded 70 basis points of yield compression in 2021, compared to the previous year, driven by growing investor demand for essential service retail investments anchored by Woolworths and Coles.”
